Africa has seen a recent wave of legal developments surrounding commercial cannabis and there are signs that momentum is continuing to build at speed.
It may yet be some time before regulated dispensaries serve legal, recreational marijuana to customers in African cities like Cape Town, South Africa or Accra, Ghana — neither country has affirmatively provided for such a system — but countries across the continent have taken initial steps toward legalization of cannabis and/or regulation of commercial cannabis activity in some form or fashion.
Cannabis In Africa
By way of example, South Africa has decriminalized personal cultivation of marijuana and issued licenses for commercial cultivation of medical marijuana. South Africa’s health authority also rescheduled CBD, providing a developing regulatory pathway for CBD products. Zimbabwe and Lesotho — two Southern African neighbors — have also opened avenues for commercial cannabis activity, while there are legislative efforts attempted or underway in Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana, and Malawai
Our practice group will continue to monitor important movements as countries across Africa demonstrate how cannabis is becoming a truly global industry.
